Judge allows resident to refile FOIA case against Prince William Board of County Supervisors

Prince William County District Court Judge Wally S. Covington today allowed a case against the county Board of Supervisors to continue.

The judge ruled a non-suit, which allows the plaintiff in the case, Alan “Bret” Gloss, an eight-year resident of the county’s Coles District, to refile his complaint against the Board of County Supervisors at a later date.

Gloss claims the Board violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act law when five of the eight County Supervisors attended a meeting of the police department’s Citizen Advisory Board at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 31.

The meeting followed a riot near Manassas the night before where four police officers were injured — one of them seriously — and five others were arrested.

Last week, Gloss told Potomac Local News he had sued all eight members of the Board of County Supervisors individually. In court today, Gloss balmed a filing error on his part and acknowledged his suit names the Board of County Supervisors as a whole.

When Covington called District Court to order at 1:34 p.m. today, the judge allowed Gloss to refile his lawsuit. This is permissible only once, said Covington.

“The statue allows for one ‘non-suit,’ and I’ll grant it,” Covington replied.

Covington represented Brentsville on the Board of County Supervisors until 2014 when he was appointed judge. Today, he offered to recuse himself from the case, but both parties declined.

Gloss, who represented himself, told the judge that he is in the process of acquiring legal counsel to serve him on this matter.

Prince William County Attorney Michele Robl, one of three lawyers who came to represent the Board of County Supervisors, urged Covington to hear the case today.

“The [Board of County Supervisors] is ready to proceed and prove to you there were no illegal proceedings during this meeting,” Robl told the judge.

Robl asserted the case should be heard within seven days as the law requires. She added there is “a lot of misinformation in the community” about what happened during the May 31 police advisory board meeting.

Outside the courthouse today, Robl told Potomac Local News that at no time did any of the five Supervisors who attended the advisory board meeting sit next to each other, discuss public business, or vote on any civil matters.

It’s unclear when Gloss will bring back his lawsuit. Next time, he plans to sue each member of the Board of County Supervisors individually.

“You saw in there today, the county has three attorneys to defend this Board. You see who far they’re willing to go to shield things from the public,” Gloss told Potomac Local News outside the courthouse today.

Three Republicans on the Board of County Supervisors maintain they weren’t invited to the special three-hour police advisory board meeting. Later that day at a 4 p.m. emergency meeting of the Board of County Supervisors called to discuss the riot, Republicans called out their colleagues, the five Democrats who attended the police advisory meeting, and questioned why they weren’t invited to hear the concerns of the community following the riot.

The riots took place the evening of Saturday, May 30, at the intersection of Sudley Road and Sudley Manor Drive, just five miles outside Manassas, in the Brentsville and Gainesville magisterial districts. Both districts represented by Republicans Jeanine Lawson and Peter Candland, respectively.

Prince William County Sheriff Glendell Hill also attended the police advisory meeting after receiving a text message invitation from soon-to-be-former Prince William County Police Chief Barry Barnard, who will retire July 1.

Hill received a subpoena to appear in court today. He wasn’t called to testify but did talk to Potomac Local News outside the courthouse.

“It did seem a little odd to see only the Democrats there at the [police advisory board] meeting,” Sheriff Glen Hill told Potomac Local News outside the courthouse today. “I would have made sure all of the Supervisors were there.”

Gloss and Republican Supervisors counter Robl’s argument that no public business was discussed and say there was a public discussion about police matters and how officers conducted themselves during the riot. Additionally, they say Democrats made policy statements concerning their opinions on the use of force by police to quell the riots.

Virginia State Police troopers, who were called in to assist Prince William police during the unlawful assembly, used pepper spray on rioters to get them to disperse. Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin posted to her Facebook page and said she did not approve of using such tactics.

Gloss also called Robl as a witness in the case, as well as County Executive Christopher Martino, who were both in court today, and who both attended the police advisory board meeting. Robl successfully argued her name be removed from the witness list, citing a law that prevents her from serving a witness in the same case where she will represent the entire Board of County Supervisors.

If Gloss does bring back his suit, and if he names the Supervisors individually, Robl will be unable to represent the Supervisors, and each must retain an attorney.

Meanwhile, Robl says the Board of County Supervisors will once again undergo training on Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act laws, which require meetings to be properly advertised to the public before they begin if two more elected officials are present. The same law bars elected leaders from discussing or taking action on public matters if the meeting has not been advertised to the public.

All eight members of the Board of County Supervisors were offered this training in December following the election of four new Democrats to the Board, to include At-large Chair Ann Wheeler.